Category Car News

We all know the Cadillac ATS is the brand’s compact sports sedan, with limited rear seat legroom. But you may not know, car with such rear seat space won’t sell in some markets, because people there have different mindsets on what features a car should have.

The Chinese market is a typical example: a compact car should not equivalent to less space for the back seat. So you see almost every cars has long wheel base version in China. For example the Volvo S60L, BMW 3-series L, 5-series L, Mercedes-Benz E Class L etc.

Previously Cadillac only imports the standard wheel base ATS (which is the same as the one in US) to China, and its sales is just so-so...

Please note that the “VW Passat” is different in Euro market and the US market.

The Passat sold in the US, is not the same Passat sold in Europe. The Passat sold in Europe, is the B7 Passat; the Passat sold in US, is based on the NMS platform, and it is not the B7 Passat in Europe. If you feel confusing at this point, consider you are still more lucky than other markets, for example in China, VW sold two kinds of Passat at the same time, one is call VW Magotan, another is called Passat, they are related to the European B7 Passat and the US Passat, respectively.

Today VW released some information and also images of the newly redesigned European-spec Passat, therefore Passa...

Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVT) have two major types: one does not use a belt to transmit power, such as Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, which uses mechanical gears; another type of CVT uses belts connecting two pulleys.

The first type has the advantage of real mechanical hard connections, high efficiency and high capacity (can handle large torque), but one limitation is that the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive, its mechanical structure can only be used in hybrid powertrains, that transmission will not work in a traditional internal combustion engine powered car.

For the belt type CVT, it can be used in all cars with different types of power sources, and it has unlim...

For the current MINI Cooper’s John Coooper Works (JCW) series vehicles, they are using a turbo-charged 1.6L 4-cylinder engine which outputs 208 hp, code name “Prince”, jointly developed by BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën.

The 2015 model year JCW models will see a completely new engine, which is based on the BMW B48 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder engine. The B48 series engine is not new for the MINI family – the current MINI Cooper S, has already used it for the 2014 model year, with output tuned to 189 hp with 207 lb-ft of torque.

On the 2015 JCW models, the B48 engine increased its boost and the final output is said to be around 227 hp (230 bhp), and the torque will be 258 lb-ft.

Bo...

Today we got the unofficial price for many trims of the redesigned 2015 C-Class (W205). Unfortunately it is for China market only, but we can still get a brief idea of how Mercedes-Benz is going to price their latest compact sports sedan. From the leaked pricing info, it is also the first time we get the more details and confirmation that the C450 will also be made, and long-wheel-base version will be offered on all trims.

Pricing info (in RMB. 1 USD = 6.21558122 RMB):

2015 Mercedes-Benz C Class (W205)
C180L:    313,000
C200L:    339,000
C260L:    372,000
C300L:    445,000
C400L:    528,000
C450L:    627,000

For your reference, below is the 2014 C-Class (...